If there are two distinctly Jersey road features that confound out-of-staters and even frustrate Jersey drivers, it’s the jughandle and the traffic circle.

The traffic circle isn’t as likely to get an angry eye roll from out-of-state drivers as the jughandle, only because they are fewer of them now. There are approximately 30 traffic circles in New Jersey, said Steven Schapiro, a state Department of Transportation spokesman.

For better or worse, the nation’s first highway traffic circle was built in New Jersey 94 years ago. Colloquially called the Airport Circle, the Pennsauken Circle was built in 1925 as the junction between Routes 30, 38 and 130 and opened to traffic in 1927. While smaller traffic circles were built first in cities, the Airport Circle is significant because it was the first highway circle.

The first traffic circle connected two of New Jersey’s first state 15 highways, including the original Route 3 that ran between Camden and Atlantic City. Part of that highway later became Route 30, according to a state Department of Transportation historic roadway study.

The circle also linked the original Route 2 that connected Trenton and Camden, which was renumbered Route 25, when the state highway system was expanded in 1927. That highway was expanded in 1935 and was renumbered to Route 130 in 1953.

The circle funneled traffic from the Ben Franklin Bridge via Admiral Wilson Boulevard and was also a route from Philly to and from the Jersey Shore, according to the DOT study.

The Boulevard also brought traffic to and from Camden Airport, which was Philadelphia’s only regional airport, located on the circle. Admiral Wilson Boulevard later became part of Route 30.

Camden Airport opened after the Pennsauken Circle did in 1929. Camden Airport was the primary air access to Philadelphia until that city’s airport opened in 1940 and the four airlines that served Philly via Camden moved out, according to the DVRBC.com historic website. The airport continued to be used for training during World War II where fledgling pilots honed their take-off and landing skills.

The circle isn’t just significant because it was “first.” A number of firsts sprung up because of it.

The circle had a colorful entertainment history according to DVRBS.com. Two nightclubs were located near the circle and airport, Weber’s Hof Brau, which offered food, dancing and entertainment. A fire destroyed the night club in 1951.

On the opposite side of the circle was Neil Deighan’s restaurant, run by Deighan, who played professional basketball in the 1920s. He became a restaurateur after his sports career and started the New Jersey Licensed Beverage Association, representing businesses in the liquor industry, according to DVRBS.com.

An aerial photo taken in 1951 shows how Airport Circle in Pennsauken was modified with Route 30 flyover ramps crossing over the middle of it and how close Camden Airport was to the junction.

The area around the circle and Admiral Wilson Boulevard “became a destination” due to other attractions, such as the nation’s first drive-in movie theater and the “Whoopee Coaster,” which the DOT historic study described as “an automotive roller coaster." An outdoor boxing ring, and a Sears store, which was considered a “rare” national department store at the time, also were located around the circle on Camden’s outskirts.

The circle outlasted the airport, which was dormant after World War II and finally sold for development in the 1960s. Part of that development is still called the Airport Industrial Park

Traffic circles were born because engineers determined it was a better type of intersection with fewer traffic conflicts than a traditional intersection, said Rongfang Liu, civil engineering professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

“A circle has its place between a traffic signal and stop (sign) intersection,” she said. “You avoid the direct conflict of the north-south and east-west traffic, merge into the circle and save time.”

What slowly killed off many of New Jersey’s original 67 traffic circles was heavier traffic.

“Circles fell out of favor and a lot has to do with traffic,” Liu said. “A circle gets to the point where it can’t handle higher volumes of traffic.”

But fixing a failing traffic circle isn’t as easy as installing a traffic signal, she said.

“You can’t just put in a traffic signal, there are conditions that have to be met,” Liu said. “Just putting a signal at a circle can make it worse.”

DOT officials consider safety, an anticipated reductions in crashes, reducing congestion, land requirements and construction costs before determining the best one option to replace or modify a specific circle, Schapiro said.

Another option is to replace a traffic circle with its smaller cousin, a roundabout, Schapiro said. A roundabout has a smaller diameter than most traffic circles, resulting in lower speeds, Schapiro said. Traffic entering has to yield to vehicles in the roundabout, which are generally traveling at lower speeds than in the traffic circle, he said. and traffic.

New Jersey’s first traffic circle, which doesn’t even look like a traffic circle anymore. A flyover, that takes Route 30 over the Airport Circle and splits to Route 130 south and Route 38 east, was built in the 1940s, Schapiro said. The ramp from Route 130 north that goes over Route 38 and takes traffic to Route 30 west was built in the early 1970s, he said.

This article is part of “Unknown New Jersey,” an ongoing series that highlights interesting and little-known stories about our past, present, and future -- all the unusual things that make our great state what is it. Got a story to pitch? Email it to local@njadvancemedia.com.